Eduard Schönfeld discovered NGC 4268 on 1 Apr 1862 with the 6" Steinheil refractor at Mannheim Observatory while observing the NGC 4273 group. The primary source 1862 "Astronomische Beobachtungen auf der Grossherzoglichen Sternwarte zu Mannheim" is not scanned online. It was independently discovered by d'Arrest at Copenhagen on only 5 days later and included it in his sample of preliminary results published in 1862 AN, 57, 337. It was also listed it as an example of a double nebulae. John Herschel must have missed both 1862 announcements as he didn't include this galaxy in the GC. Dreyer credited Schönfeld, d'Arrest and Engelhardt in the NGC.

400/500mm - 17.5" (3/28/87): moderately bright, fairly small, elongated SW-NE, brighter core. A mag 14.5 star is 0.8' NW of center. Third of seven in a group with NGC 4273 4.3' NE.

600/800mm - 24" (4/28/14): moderately bright, fairly small, elongated 2:1 SW-NE, 0.8'x0.4', contains a small bright core. A mag 14.5-15 star lies 0.8' NW of center. NGC 4273 lies 4.2' NE, NGC 4277 5.4' NE and NGC 4281 10.6' NE with a total of 8 galaxies (7 NGCs) in a 15' field.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb